]]>2461Managing Amazon’s ‘interest-based’ adshttps://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-amazons-interest-based-ads/
https://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-amazons-interest-based-ads/#respondWed, 01 Apr 2020 10:21:50 +0000https://davefitch.co.uk/?p=2382Advertisers love to use ‘interest-based ads’, as ‘interest-based ads’ sound a lot nicer than ‘personalised ads’ or ‘targeted ads’ or even ‘customer-profiling’. But they’re all actually the same thing – despite the different words/terms/marketing. Amazon’s warning users that it’s using ‘interest-based ads’ with Amazon Music – which is probably another reason not to use Amazon …

]]>https://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-amazons-interest-based-ads/feed/02382Won’t Back Down – the Steve Peat Storyhttps://davefitch.co.uk/mtb/wont-back-down-the-steve-peat-story/
https://davefitch.co.uk/mtb/wont-back-down-the-steve-peat-story/#respondTue, 31 Mar 2020 11:07:39 +0000https://davefitch.co.uk/?p=2358The full film by Clay Porter following mountain biker Steve Peat’s career and his attempts to win the MTB World Downhill Championship.

]]>https://davefitch.co.uk/mtb/wont-back-down-the-steve-peat-story/feed/02358Managing your privacy online #8 – turn-off URL auto-complete and Google Chrome’s synchttps://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-your-privacy-online-8-turn-off-url-auto-complete-and-google-chromes-sync/
https://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-your-privacy-online-8-turn-off-url-auto-complete-and-google-chromes-sync/#respondTue, 31 Mar 2020 10:25:00 +0000https://davefitch.co.uk/?p=2149Go to chrome://settings/ (you’ll probably have to select that and paste it in as a url) Click on the yellow text to see some surprising options: Make sure the last two are turned OFF – otherwise you’re sending your browser data to Google in real time.

]]>https://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-your-privacy-online-8-turn-off-url-auto-complete-and-google-chromes-sync/feed/02149Managing your privacy online #7 – managing Google Chrome’s synchttps://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-your-privacy-online-7-managing-chrome-sync/
https://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-your-privacy-online-7-managing-chrome-sync/#respondMon, 30 Mar 2020 09:40:00 +0000https://davefitch.co.uk/?p=2143If you have Chrome sync turned on, you might not be surprised to find out that Chrome syncs far more data about you and what you browse to its servers than you might expect. Go to https://chrome.google.com/sync?hl=en-GB to see what data Chrome’s uploaded for you. To get rid of this, scroll down to the bottom …

]]>If you have Chrome sync turned on, you might not be surprised to find out that Chrome syncs far more data about you and what you browse to its servers than you might expect. Go to https://chrome.google.com/sync?hl=en-GB to see what data Chrome’s uploaded for you.

To get rid of this, scroll down to the bottom of the page ’till you see this:

Hit ‘RESET SYNC’ to remove your data. You should probably still turn sync off though…

]]>https://davefitch.co.uk/mtb/santa-cruz-5010-test-ride/feed/02180Managing your privacy online #6 – Chrome tracks the search engines you usehttps://davefitch.co.uk/miscellaneous/managing-your-privacy-online-6-chrome-tracks-the-search-engines-you-use/
https://davefitch.co.uk/miscellaneous/managing-your-privacy-online-6-chrome-tracks-the-search-engines-you-use/#respondFri, 27 Mar 2020 10:55:00 +0000https://davefitch.co.uk/?p=2139Did you know that Google Chrome keeps track of every time you run a search on a website? I didn’t, ’till I stumbled on the list of webpages when I was looking at my default search engine, and saw a massive list of websites at the bottom of the page. I did a quick (!) …

]]>Did you know that Google Chrome keeps track of every time you run a search on a website? I didn’t, ’till I stumbled on the list of webpages when I was looking at my default search engine, and saw a massive list of websites at the bottom of the page.

I did a quick (!) count and Chrome had saved a list of 110 websites I’d done searches on.

]]>https://davefitch.co.uk/miscellaneous/managing-your-privacy-online-6-chrome-tracks-the-search-engines-you-use/feed/02139Managing your privacy online #5 – Google’s Assistant is watching you – even if you don’t think you have an assistant!https://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-your-privacy-online-5-googles-assistant-is-watching-you-even-if-you-dont-think-you-have-an-assistant/
https://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-your-privacy-online-5-googles-assistant-is-watching-you-even-if-you-dont-think-you-have-an-assistant/#respondThu, 26 Mar 2020 14:21:00 +0000https://davefitch.co.uk/?p=2132I was naive. I thought that since I don’t use Google Assistant, I didn’t need to pay attention to how it used my data. WRONG. If you go to the https://myaccount.google.com/yourdata/assistant page, you’re greeted by this: Now look at the highlighted text: Scroll down the page and you’ll find this: You’ll probably want to turn …

]]>https://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-your-privacy-online-5-googles-assistant-is-watching-you-even-if-you-dont-think-you-have-an-assistant/feed/02132Managing your privacy online #4 – Google thinks you liked that thing – watch your endorsements!https://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-your-privacy-online-4-google-thinks-you-liked-that-thing-watch-your-endorsements/
https://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-your-privacy-online-4-google-thinks-you-liked-that-thing-watch-your-endorsements/#respondWed, 25 Mar 2020 14:21:00 +0000https://davefitch.co.uk/?p=2131People like to buy things that their peers like. Google wants to leverage this by using your reviews and comments to support Google advertising and search results. If you’re not ok with that (and do you think you should decide what you promote, or are you happy to let Google do it…?) go to https://myaccount.google.com/shared-endorsements …

]]>https://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-your-privacy-online-4-google-thinks-you-liked-that-thing-watch-your-endorsements/feed/02131Managing your privacy online #3 – Google and your phone numberhttps://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-your-privacy-online-3-google-and-your-phone-number/
https://davefitch.co.uk/technology/privacy/managing-your-privacy-online-3-google-and-your-phone-number/#respondTue, 24 Mar 2020 10:11:00 +0000https://davefitch.co.uk/?p=2128The easiest way to merge information about individuals is by having a common attribute that can be used to identify and then link information that shares a common feature – email address, phone number, social security number etc. To limit how Google links data to your phone number go to https://myaccount.google.com/privacycheckup/3?continue=https%3A%2F%2Fmyaccount.google.com%2Fdata-and-personalization In the ‘Help people …

]]>The easiest way to merge information about individuals is by having a common attribute that can be used to identify and then link information that shares a common feature – email address, phone number, social security number etc.

‘Help people connect with you’ should be renamed ‘Help Google link you to your contacts and networks’

In the ‘Help people connect with you’ section make sure these settings are turned off. If you want people to have a (slightly) harder task of finding you with your phone number you should also turn this setting off.